Common salt, i.e. sodium chloride, is the additive most frequently used in food and beverage preparation, both for household and food industry use. It is necessary to consume a certain amount of sodium ions and chloride ions to maintain the salt balance of the body, but the intake of sodium chloride is usually much larger than the minimum required.
The Food and Drug Administration recommends a daily, 500 mg minimal and 2,400 mg maximal, sodium intake. Notwithstanding this recommendation, the average American consumes more than 4,000 mg per day, three-fourths of which comes from processed foodstuffs and ingested nourishment. The American Public Health Association (APHA) has proposed to reduce sodium content in processed foodstuffs by 50%. The APHA estimates the change could cut the number of hypertension sufferers by 20 percent, eventually saving 150,000 lives a year.
A reduction of sodium intake is prescribed to patients with diseases that affect the cardiovascular system because many of these patients present altered renal capacities to excrete the sodium.
Cardiac ischemic disease constitutes the foremost cause of death in the Western world. Over 5 million people in the United States alone are annually diagnosed with the disease. A reduction in salt intake in patients with light cardiac insufficiency can substantially improve measures against symptoms, facilitate the activation of certain medication and, thus, ameliorate the quality of life of the patients.
As per the Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, gastric cancer is the second most common cause of cancer relating to mortality in the world. Detection of the disease commonly occurs at an advanced stage and the overall survival rate is poor. Sodium retains a positive correlation to the incidence of gastric cancer. One of the recurrent findings from the medical testings performed on patients with gastric cancer is that of elevated salt intake.
In accordance with the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), overweight individuals consume more calories and more sodium. Consequently, they retain more sodium than individuals who are not overweight. In addition, research conducted by the NHLBI suggests an increase of 89% in mortality risk amongst overweight adults, due to cerebral damage, for every additional 100 mmol of sodium ingested.
A diet consistent with high sodium intakes reduces the level of nitric oxide and, in turn, augments the risk of undergoing cardiac, vascular, renal and cerebral diseases.
A diet consistent with a low-sodium intake is beneficial to the hypertensive, elderly, obese, salt sensitive, pregnant women, children, Syndrome X patients—those afflicted by insulin resistance, hyperinsulinism, abnormal intolerance to glucose, arterial hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, and low HDL-cholesterol—as well as the overall population.
Further, several studies suggest that dietary potassium may play a role in decreasing blood pressure. Potassium is also involved in nerve function and muscle control. Increasing potassium in the diet may protect against hypertension in people who are sensitive to high levels of sodium.
Athletes also may need more potassium to replace that lost from muscle during exercise and the smaller amount lost in sweat. Low potassium can cause muscle cramping and cardiovascular irregularities. Eating foods high in potassium can prevent these symptoms.
In order to control the intake of sodium chloride, it has been proposed to use various salt combinations, wherein sodium chloride has been partially replaced by other salts, especially potassium chloride. Replacement of sodium chloride by other chemical compounds usually results in a taste deterioration.
It is therefore desirable to provide low sodium salt that would reduce the sodium intake and increase the potassium intake while preserving the salty taste.